Maroon
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 An escaped black slave of the Caribbean and the Americas or a descendant of such a person.
"Further north a Maroon community in the Bahoruco Mountains thrived for eighty-five years, until the French proposed a truce under the terms of which the Maroons would be permitted to form an independent clan."
- 2 A rich dark red, somewhat brownish, color. countable, uncountable
"Is it a really dark maroon or a lighter maroon or a maroon that leans toward the red side? Or the magenta side? To address this issue, scientists use something called a color space."
- 3 A rocket-propelled firework or skyrocket, often one used as a signal (for example, to summon the crew of a lifeboat or warn of an air raid).
"On Sunday afternoon a serious firework explosion occurred in Lambeth, whereby three persons were seriously injured. Two lads […] purchased a firework called a “maroon”, which is a bomb consisting of a small ball of string covered with a red composition. It is loaded with gunpowder, and there is also a fuse attached."
- 4 An idiot; a fool. derogatory, slang
"At least, I would not be sleeping that night. Why did I have that espresso? What a maroon!"
- 5 Alternative form of maroon (“descendant of escaped slaves”). alt-of, alternative
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 A member of the Queensland State of Origin rugby league team, who wear maroon-coloured jerseys. Australia
- 7 an exploding firework used as a warning signal wordnet
- 8 A castaway; a person who has been marooned.
- 9 a dark purplish-red to dark brownish-red color wordnet
- 10 a person who is stranded (as on an island) wordnet
- 1 To abandon in a remote, desolate place, as on a desert island.
"Hard-hit by the Arctic winter, the Waverley route was completely closed from January 6-9, when an avalanche between Whitrope and Riccarton marooned Class A2 4-6-2 No. 60535 Hornet's Beauty."
- 2 leave stranded on a desert island without resources wordnet
- 3 leave stranded or isolated with little hope of rescue wordnet
- 1 Associated with Maroon culture, communities or peoples. not-comparable
"In her discussion of Michelle Cliff's Abeng, a novel that historicizes maroon culture and the Jamaican warrior heroine Nanny of the Maroons, Francoise Lionnet examines linguistic “metissage” […]"
- 2 Of a maroon color
- 1 of dark brownish to purplish red wordnet
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"If the large maroon turtleneck is too big, do you have it in medium?"
Etymology
From French marron (“feral; fugitive”, adjective), from Spanish cimarrón (“fugitive, wild, feral”); see that entry for more.
Etymology tree Byzantine Greek μάραον (máraon)bor. Italian marronebor. French marronbor. English maroon Borrowed from French marron (“chestnut; brown”). Compare Spanish marrón. Doublet of marron (“sweet chestnut”).
Unknown. Possibly related to the sense “castaway” (etymology 1), or owing to the fact that the color of a fired flare was commonly red (etymology 2).
From an intentional mispronunciation of the word moron used by the cartoon character Bugs Bunny.
Related phrases
More for "maroon"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.